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The NSW government has announced $700,000 in pilot and seed funding to build an innovative and smart defence industry to pioneer research and the development of new technologies.
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The NSW Defence Innovation Network (DIN) aims to deliver four pilot project and two seed project grants to successful researchers from the state’s leading universities.
The DIN has engaged with the industry’s best and brightest to support the development of advanced technologies for the Australian Defence Force, according to Stuart Ayres, Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney.
“The NSW government is working to build and grow the defence industry in the state and help small and medium sized enterprises gain better access to local and global supply chain opportunities,” Minister Ayres said.
“Since its establishment, the DIN has supported 21 innovative research projects and invested more than $3 million in pilot project grants.
“Seed project grants have supported 14 projects that have grown into commercial products, including DroneShield who developed drone detection technology using AI, OCIUS’s sensors to enhance situational awareness at sea, and autonomous Electric VTOL Aircraft from AMSL Aero.”
The pilot project grants allow member universities to connect with industry and Defence to conduct rapid feasibility studies on new ideas, Professor Bradley Williams, director of the DIN, added.
“These ideas can then be developed into concepts or prototypes and attract further investment,” Professor Williams said.
The DIN will fund the following pilot projects:
- $150,000 for UAS Swarm Search Strategies with Intelligent Task-Specific Guidance – led by the University of Sydney and the University of Technology Sydney;
- $149,829 for defence acquisition optimisation using quantum algorithms – led by Macquarie University and the University of Technology, Sydney;
- $149,292 for an augmented-reality heads-up interface for the Royal Australian Navy – led by the University of Technology Sydney, University of Newcastle, University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Western Sydney University; and
- $147,926 for Neuromorphic Audio-Visual Scene Analysis for Underwater Collision Avoidance – led by Western Sydney University and the University of Sydney;
The DIN will provide also provide $50,000 seed funding to the following projects:
- A prototype for adversarial deep learning use cases – led by Spinlock Security and the University of Technology Sydney; and
- Development of novel crystal growth furnaces for sonar applications – led by Critus and UNSW.
Through Investment NSW, the NSW government will invest $1.9 million to support the DIN’s activities over the next year, aiming to boost generation of high-tech solutions for Defence and creating a collaborative research environment.
[Related: Labor promises first Defence Force Posture Review in eight years]
